BAD, BUT NOT WORSE

We wrapped up the first part of our Spring Break trip with an overnight kayaking trip on Lake Tugalo. Lake Tugalo is on the South Carolina / Georgia line, formed by the Chattooga and Tallulah Rivers. It’s somewhat infamous for being the lake the whitewater rafters and kayakers have to paddle across after running section IV of the Chattooga River. However, the lake has many charms in its own right. It is nestled in the mountains, surrounded by (mostly) undeveloped woodlands. There are no houses along its shores. The only development is the dam and power station. The only motorized craft allowed on the lake are fishing boats with small motors. Throw in some remote campsites along its shores, and it is a paradise for kayakers.

I only had a vague plan for our trip. There are two boat ramps, one in South Carolina and one in Georgia. We would put in on the South Carolina side and paddle down towards the dam before heading up the Tallulah arm to the powerhouse. We planned to keep an eye out for potential campsites along the way. We didn’t have a specific campsite picked out, but by chance I ran into a friendly guy in the parking lot of the store in Long Creek. When I told him our plans, he told me about his favorite campsite. He told us that it was on the South Carolina side, across from the mouth of the Tallulah River. That wasn’t quite right, but we still found it without any trouble.

My other goal was to explore a few of the creeks that flow into Lake Tugalo and look for waterfalls. Some friends of mine had hiked up Bad Creek to a major waterfall a few years earlier. I thought that Worse Creek might be worth exploring, too. And Bernie recently found a run of waterfalls along an unnamed stream he calls Worser Creek. There is also a waterfall near the mouth of Devils Branch, and of course Opossum Creek Falls enters the Chattooga River just upstream from the mouth of the river. Oh, and I was also curious about Black Branch and Moody Branch along the Tallulah arm of the lake. Both of those streams appeared to have some potential for waterfalls.

Christy did some work at the Long Creek store Wednesday morning while I packed. Then we drove down Lake Tugalo Road to the boat ramp. There were two cars parked there, and there wasn’t anyone around. We packed up and paddled directly across the lake to the mouth of Bad Creek. I was hoping that there would be a campsite here. There is one, but it is marginal. We decided to continue on and explore Bad Creek the next morning. The next cove to the south had a nice, semi-developed campsite that was easily accessible. We got out there and had lunch. We seriously considered camping there, but the site had a couple of flaws. First, we were directly across from the boat ramp, which detracted from the scenery. Also, there were ants everywhere, and I don’t do well with ants. After getting bit two or three times I was ready to move on.

We continued south along the Georgia side. We passed the mouth of the cove created by Worse Creek. I had considered exploring it, but that is actually the location of the boat ramp on the Georgia side. It is a good distance upstream to the stretch with waterfall potential, and I didn’t like the idea of leaving our kayaks next to a road for several hours. We decided to move on.

Farther down the lake we passed an established campsite on the Georgia side with huge tarps and all kinds of equipment. It looked like someone was living there. From there, it wasn’t far to the Tallulah arm. We paddled upstream, below impressive cliffs. We passed several waterfalls on low volume streams before the powerhouse came into view. We paddled up to the last of the frothing rapids before riding the current back down towards the dam.

We stopped at both Black Branch and Moody Branch that afternoon. Christy hung out on the shore while I bushwhacked up Black Branch. I had planned to creek walk, but there were so many fallen trees it was (slightly) easier to bushwhack along the bank. Well, that is a bit misleading. It was a terrible bushwhack. There were fallen trees and briers everywhere. There were also hundreds of millipedes along this creek. I’ve never seen so many millipedes in one day. Early on I passed a small, sliding waterfall, but I was high up on the hillside above it. I decided to check it out on the way back. I pressed on to the 1,000’ elevation, thinking that was a likely spot for a small waterfall. I found some impressive cliffs along there on River Right, but nothing more than some minor cascades.

I tried to stay closer to the creek on my return. Despite this, I somehow completely missed the small waterfall I’d seen earlier. How did that happen? Oh well, it wasn’t much anyway.

After a short paddle we arrived at the mouth of Moody Branch. There is a campsite here below a big rock, next to a small waterfall. We considered camping there, but the bugs were really bad back in that shady cove. We decided to move on. First though, I decided to explore upstream a bit. I did this despite the miserable bushwhack I’d experienced along Black Branch. This bushwhack would be shorter, as the likely spot for a waterfall was much closer to the lake. There are a couple of cascades / small waterfalls right before the creek enters the lake, but I didn’t find anything above. Admittedly, this time I didn’t go very far.

We returned to the lake and paddled towards the dam. We crossed to the South Carolina side and headed north. Before long we spotted a campsite on a small peninsula. It was easily accessible – in fact, there are rough steps leading from the water up to the campsite. We claimed the spot and celebrated with a cold beer. We set up the hammocks and went for a quick swim. Then we built a fire and began working on dinner.

INTRODUCING THE WHIP-POOR-WILL – THE ASSHOLE OF BIRDS

Around dusk our peaceful campsite was ruined. A bird flew past us and landed in a nearby tree. It began to sing, “whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will”. There is nothing pleasant about the song of a whip-poor-will. I’d say that it is slightly more aggravating than a car alarm. No, more like a fire alarm. I threw a rock at it, and the fucker flew to another tree slightly farther away. Then it started up its song again.

Sometime later the bird flew off. Thank God! Of course, he was just toying with us. Whip-poor-wills are like herpes – you may think you’ve gotten rid of it, but it always comes back. And boy did it ever. Throughout the night it sang and sang. It would take breaks from time to time – long enough for us to fall back asleep, before starting up again. In fact, I’m pretty sure there was more than one of them. At times that horrible noise seemed to be coming from multiple directions.

Neither of us slept much that night. That damn bird sang right until first light. I did get a bit of sleep then, before the first fishing boats puttered by.

I eventually gave up on sleeping and made coffee and started on breakfast. That is when I discovered that we had killed one of our fuel cannisters using our bug zapper the previous evening. (and no, the bug zapper is not effective against whip-poor-wills). I killed the other one making coffee. Oops. I had also somehow managed to kill both of our lighters. Despite this, I managed to get the fire going again. I cooked eggs and potatoes in a frying pan right over the fire, which actually worked. Things were looking up.

We packed up and paddled across to the mouth of Bad Creek. We paddled upstream as far as possible before getting out and tying off the kayaks. I loaded up my daypack, and Christy and I headed upstream. It was only a short distance to the first run of waterfalls and cascades. This stretch of creek features some lovely scenery. We were able to proceed by scrambling along the rocks next to the falls, along with a little bushwhacking. Above that, the creek mellowed out. The hike upstream was a pleasant creek walk. In fact, it was fun. It was nothing at all like Black Branch or Moody Branch. Bad Creek is a much larger stream, and it probably floods occasionally. Floods help wash fallen trees and debris downstream, into the lake. We didn’t have many obstacles to deal with, and there was very little bushwhacking. It was just ankle to knee-deep wading and rock hopping all the way up to the base of the big waterfall on Bad Creek.

I was delighted when we arrived. It is a lovely waterfall, and I was thrilled that Christy was able to make it there on her injured knee. We hung out there for awhile and took lots of photos before heading back.

We returned to the kayaks and headed farther up the lake. I kind of wanted to check out Worser Creek, but settled for a quick visit to the mouth of Devils Branch. There are two small waterfalls just before Devils Branch enters the lake. The topo map suggested a more promising spot just upstream, at the confluence of Devils Branch and an unnamed tributary. I bushwhacked to that spot, but found nothing but minor rapids. This appears to be one of those cases where the topo map lies. The actual waterfalls are just a bit downstream from where the map suggests they should be.

I did stumble upon a whole hillside of Vaseys Trillium on my way back. The bushwhacking was worth it just to see one of my favorite varieties of trillium.

We paddled back to the boat ramp and loaded up the car. We drove back to Long Creek and made one last stop at the store. We got lunch there, and I added some air to our leaky tire. Apparently it was just a slow leak, as most of the air I’d put in on Monday evening had lasted for three days.

That afternoon we drove back to Charlotte. That evening we went to Tuck Fest at the U.S. Whitewater Center to see Fantastic Negrito. He put on an outstanding show!

We finished up Spring Break with a long weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. We spent two nights at the Trondossa Music Festival seeing two of our favorite bands, Widespread Panic and Umphreys McGee. We also caught some nice sets by the Marcus King Band and the Wood Brothers, along with some music from some local bands. We spent Monday at Folly Beach before heading home. It was a great trip, with lots of kayaking and waterfalls and sunshine and relaxation. Where to next?

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